Philipp Blom [DE]

Conversation #2: A History of the Self From the Age of Enlightenment to Climate Change

03.12.2018

Understanding the crisis today based on Enlightenment thinkers: that is how you might describe most of historian Philipp Blom’s books. The liberal dream of the 17th century – in which personal rights and freedoms eclipsed religious dogmatism, aristocratic rule, and superstition – has started to undermine itself in the course of history. In Wat er op het Spel Staat (What is at Stake)(2017), Blom sketches how, on the one hand, the dream was shattered in the market, which is governed by the law of the jungle, and on the other, how it collided with the stronghold, a safe fortress in which people hide themselves away to try and return to a past that never really existed. Journalist and philosopher Anna Luyten will join Blom for a discussion about the journey of the Enlightenment’s rational, emancipated and authentic self. How far has it come?

• Philipp Blom (Hamburg, 1970) is a German historian, philosopher and author. He is best-known for his historical non-fiction. He has been a guest of the Kaaitheater twice before, including during Ecopolis 2015.

Related content

Sociologist and philosopher Didier Eribon’s Return to Reims combines autobiographical narrative and powerful sociological analysis. By exploring his own family history, he analyses how the class system influenced and continues to influence their lives.

The South African philosopher Mogobe Ramose wrote the standard work on Ubuntu philosophy: a vision of existence as a continuous stream in which everything is constantly searching for balance and is inseparable connected with everything else.

In her debut Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, author, journalist, and human rights activist Afua Hirsch has written a subtle personal history that also sketches the history of a country. Who can and may appropriate British identity?

In 2009, Nina Power wrote the book One Dimensional Woman about contemporary portrayals of women. Since she published her book, the #MeToo movement and other pressing feminist questions have emerged. How does Nina Power evaluate her book and the appeals she made then, today – on International Women's Day?

According to Dutch philosopher Thijs Lijster, in today’s complex world, we increasingly think of society as an ‘outside world’. Against the idea that history is something which happens to us, he champions the collective ability to make history.

Understanding the crisis today based on Enlightenment thinkers: that is how you might describe most of historian Philipp Blom’s books. Journalist and philosopher Anna Luyten will join him for a discussion about the journey of the Enlightenment’s rational, emancipated and authentic self. How far has it come?